Where To Watch
These colorful pages from old Sears catalogs will get you in the mood for spring
Remember when all your clothes were yellow and Vincent Price decorated your house?
1964 Sears Spring/Summer catalog cover / midcenturyliving
Sunshine and flowers are just around the corner.
But we're looking forward to next season by looking back — way back. We flipped through some vintage Sears catalogs from 1958 and 1964 to find the brightest, mid-century-est pages in the book. Nothing takes you back quite like old shopping ads.
As you will see, hats, lemon and Vincent Price were all the rage.
Ah, soak up the sun. The future was so bright, you had to wear shades. Well, he did, anyway.
Image: grayflannelsuit.net
Do you also get the sense these women were about to start snapping fingers and break into a dance routine?
Image: midcenturyliving
Hey, fellas. Playing ball, going sailing, cycling, horseback riding or to the beach? Get a Shirt™. All you need is a Button-Down™ Shirt™.
Image: grayflannelsuit.net
Something tells us none of these women were about to dive into the pool.
Image: midcenturyliving
The rise in humidity makes a mess of your hair. So just wear someone else's.
Image: midcenturyliving
Why doesn't anyone wear hats like this anymore?
Image: midcenturyliving
Are those hats above not enough hat for you? Try these big hats.
Image: midcenturyliving
Rainy day and gray skies? Stay inside and look up at your groovy drop-ceiling tiles.
Image: midcenturyliving
And brighten up your view outside with some Revolutionary War patterned curtains.
Image: midcenturyliving
No window? Gaze into another world — and the soul of Vincent Price — with this exclusive art collection.
Image: midcenturyliving
Floral patterns will make you want to twirl.
Image: grayflannelsuit.net
All yellow everything.
Image: midcenturyliving
The idyllic backyard. We wish more retail outlets employed painters.
Image: midcenturyliving
Looney Tunes - Holiday Bugs
$19.95
Scooby Doo - Spooky Doo
$19.95
Garfield - Cat-o-Lantern
$19.95
The Goonies - Flag (Black)
$19.95
Svengoolie® T-Shirt
$19.95
I Love Lucy - Lucy Lines
$19.95
Related
50 Comments
My best friend growing up had that red fence around his house. I'm not sure when they put it up (probably early 70s), but I remember his dad having to fix it up all the time. Not the sturdiest thing. Finally came down for good in the late 80s
My dad put a fence like that around our backyard in the early seventies.
On The hat page, the lattice hat would have left the wearer with strange tan pattern if worn in the sun too long
I thought the same thing.
My mom had a really good sense of fashion, and later worked in Department Store. And never wore anything like these clothes. Of course we lived on the West Coast which was probably too far away from the NYC runways. But those color combinations required sunglasses.
I’d like to see more like this. Practically every spring I had a yellow shirtwaist deess to wear to high school. Would love to have one again.
It is (or was) common practice for fashion models to remove all personal jewelry before a shoot. One year, this ingrained habit caused Sears a bit of a publicity nightmare when they published their annual catalog of maternity wear (remember the Sears specialty catalogs?) - with clearly pregnant models and not a wedding band in sight.
Oh, my! Lol. Back in the 70's one of my cousins told me that a sports celebrity (I may have the sports part wrong) was suing Sears because they posed in the underwear section and apparently were not pleased by the outcome. I looked in our Sears catalog and never could find anything out of place. I never saw any sports stars either. 🤷♀️
I'm not sure that makes any sense. Care to explain what they were implying.
I either didn't remember it correctly or my cousin got her facts wrong, but there was an incident in the Sears catalog. I can't cut and paste too well with my phone, so if you are still interested do an internet search of "Sears catalog page 602."
I just looked it up. Seems overblown and not really what people thought they were seeing. But I can totally see how it became a 70s urban legend....LOL
Those were the days.
I am sorry but I miss Sears.
Same here. That was where my mom bought all our clothes and I would still go to Sears for some things even up to when they closed.
Same...miss Sears!
So do I.
I didn't know that Vincent Price was an Art authority. I totally would've wanted a piece from his collection in my place (-:
I think some of the Vincent Price-curated artwork have appeared on Antiques Roadshow over the years and are actually worth many times their purchase price.
Also a connoisseur of fine cooking. I have a copy of the cookbook he coauthored with his wife, Mary.
That's pretty cool!
Oh wow! That's AWESOME!
That "All-Yellow" ad reminds me of the opening credits of That Girl.
Also on tonight's program:
Part two:
I love looking at old advertisements and old TV commercials. Takes me back in time.👌
Me too. I watch old tv ads on YouTube from m the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. I love looking back.
Love these vintage catalogue stories!
Remember seeing those hats on ladies in church.
Vintage ads bring back memories.
Vintage ads bring back memories.
I loved looking at these ads. I’d wear a lot of the outfits I saw in the ads, today.
Rainy day and gray skies? Stay inside and look up at your groovy drop-ceiling tiles. Why not, at the same time I will admire the view outside with some Revolutionary War patterned curtains, set against some luxurious wood grain paneling. Who could ask for anything more.
So I enjoy those "owl overnight hours" of TV. Of that era, it seems like interior decorators accessed only one color, which was olive green. From carpets to chairs to drapes to refrigerators to paint. Did they never compare the "look" of sets from show to show? And why was the only available color, olive green?
The artwork and layout screams 1960's Sears. Although a bit later, I can feel my Mom's hand in mine as she led me through the store shopping for Toughskins. Sears had some solid brand names (Craftsman, Kenmore, etc.). It's a shame then went belly up.
" Do you also get the sense these women were about to start snapping fingers and break into a dance routine?" I got that sense, but which dance routine I couldn't decide.
Insert your favorite dance routine (music video) here _________________________
Insert your favorite dance routine (music video) here _________________________
-2.jpg)
I tried to put in the space you provided but failed miserably . So decided just to put one here. .
Classic one by the Contours- Can You Do it.
Classic one by the Contours- Can You Do it.
Thank You. I guess it would be interesting if one could ____ place answers within a post lol, but they would need to re-design their commenting system. I'm satisfied with it though.
Many of those hats (amongst other fashions of yerteryear) are better left in the past... but I kind of miss high-waisted men's pants. They were more comfortable than wearing your belt at mid-stomach (or for some - below stomach) level, and the pockets were long and deep.
Sure, your legs looked longer and your torso looked shorter, but at least you looked kind of stylish. Add a pleat and a cuff and you were good to go!
Sure, your legs looked longer and your torso looked shorter, but at least you looked kind of stylish. Add a pleat and a cuff and you were good to go!
Personally, I would rather look at any of those fashions than most of what passes for fashion today. Though some of the men's shirts above look like ones you could buy at Walmart right now.
So not all the Sixties TV coms depicted men in casual ware on TV. I'm not sure why they needed to look so business-like. (Check out Perry Mason) except for Paul Drakes very distinguished sportscoats. Although my dad had very, very few casual shirts for weekends, and he usually wore slacks that were worn out from part of a suit. I know that people didn't have much of a budget in those days. But it's fun to see Beaver's dad in some nifty sportswear. He was of course a golfer, and he managed to wear old clothes if he was painting or fixing things. I liked that show because it was pretty close to decent reality. Although no one will ever forgive June for "vacuuming in pearls." She was actually a former fashion model who never lost her figure, or her under stated elegance.
[ Seems off-topic but at least we're discussing fashions and trends! ]
[ Seems off-topic but at least we're discussing fashions and trends! ]
I am geeking out over Sears selling original artwork by Picasso, Rembrandt, Pollock, and Goya.
What? No Van Gogh?
What? No Van Gogh?
Reminds me of the line in the Billy Joel song, Scene From an Italian Restaurant "They got an apartment with deep pile carpet and a couple of paintings from Sears"
I love these Vintage stories.
So in the first pic the woman had no concern staring at the sun?☀️☀️
The women with hats never met the pop band "Men Without Hats."
The Wigs: Quite the difference in price for human hair, $69.50 or 100% European Hair $119.95, Was European Hair not human?
So in the first pic the woman had no concern staring at the sun?☀️☀️
The women with hats never met the pop band "Men Without Hats."
The Wigs: Quite the difference in price for human hair, $69.50 or 100% European Hair $119.95, Was European Hair not human?
I was thinking the same thing about those wigs! What is "European hair" and why is it more expensive?! 👩🦱👱♀️👩🦰👩🦳
I could be what is called virgin hair, meaning no history of chemical processing. Or it could be coming from a source that you'd rather not know.